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Tuesday, November 22, 2011

The Implications Don't Matter, If It Is True

As I have been studying and praying for wisdom in this new "TESTING TULIP" series I have found myself brought back to a thought I try to get people to honestly consider when I'm trying to help them with tough issues.

If TULIP is true, then the implications don't matter. They simply are the implications of truth. Evaluating the implications will accurately determine if TULIP is true or not.

In similar fashion, any lack of truth or validity in any view other than TULIP does not prove TULIP. Therefore it doesn't matter what my view of Election, or Depravity or the Atonement, or how God draws men, or Eternal Security... my view can be wrong at the same time as TULIP is wrong. My view being wrong does not aid the validity of TULIP whatsoever. Obviously if an opposing view is true then this would have the effect of negating TULIP. However, I am not seeking to produce an alternate theory to TULIP in these articles.

I will be testing TULIP. It is either in accordance with the Scriptures or it is not. Alternate theories are not part of that equation.

So I won't be trying to draw conclusions as to what the implications are and I won't be offering alternate theories either. I had previously said that I would give my view of each point, but I think that would lead to distracting arguments about issues that have nothing to do with TULIP.

This will allow me, hopefully, to spend more effort in the Canons of Dort as well. I think what I will be doing is to only use those for more Scripture references for the points of TULIP. I am not going to be trying to answer the very long Canons.

1 comment:

I have now written out what Monergism.com says about Total Depravity, what the Synod of Dort says about the corruption of man (that directly relates to this discussion) what Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology says about the Providence and Eternal Decrees of God (with regard to the discussion of Total Depravity) and what Wayne Grudem says about the goodness of faith.

I have broken the claims made by these documents down into point form, and have compiled the passages referenced to support these claims. I am going to begin today to evaluate the claims in view of the passages.